Message Board Archives

“We would like to signal our growing impatience and anxiety with the lack of actions regarding persons who are free to kill.”

This was the stance yesterday from president of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) Gregory Aboud, who is calling for more work on the ground by Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith and the TTPS.

“We are among those that were very supportive and enthusiastic, not only about the appointment of Gary Griffith as commissioner of police, but also the appointment of Stuart Young as minister of national security,” Aboud said, via telephone.

“But we feel entitled to say, with respect, not wanting to be disrespectful to either but wanting to ­intimate a strong sense of impatience now, that the honeymoon is over and it is high time that something be one to confront the freeness with which persons are able to kill in broad daylight, without fear of any accountability or fear of being ­apprehended.”

Aboud said Griffith, in particular, “needs to recognise that where justice is not dispensed by the State agencies, particularly the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, that in ­itself is an injustice being perpe­trated on the society”.

Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith has called on the state to stop plac­ing state funds in the hands of gang lead­ers.

The Top Cop said the prac­tice had been the ma­jor cat­a­lyst for the spike in mur­ders in the coun­try over the past 15 years.

"It is very dif­fi­cult for the Po­lice Ser­vice to try to pro­vide safe­ty and se­cu­ri­ty to a coun­try when the state con­tin­ues to fa­cil­i­tate ma­jor con­tracts for gang mem­bers. This is not the first and I hope it could come to an end one day," said Grif­fith, "For the last 15 years, homi­cides went in this coun­try from 150 odd to over 500 af­ter 15 years be­cause of dif­fer­ent ad­min­is­tra­tions com­ing and go­ing, con­tin­u­ing to give mul­ti­mil­lion con­tracts to gang mem­bers by call­ing them, com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers and by prob­a­bly as­sist­ing to win an elec­tion."

The Com­mis­sion­er said he had reg­u­lar­ly crit­i­cised the prac­tice through his var­i­ous stints in Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty.

"From 2002 to 2010 I spoke about it. When I was na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty ad­vi­sor I spoke about it. When I was Min­is­ter of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty I fought it down. We've seen Life­s­port, Colour Me Or­ange, URP, CEPEP it has con­tin­ued. We can­not be a ba­nana re­pub­lic to con­tin­ue to feel that we have to give these gang lead­ers con­tracts. I in­tend to con­tin­ue to fight it down" said the com­mis­sion­er.

He said de­spite the in­ten­tions of politi­cians, this has reg­u­lar­ly failed to curb crim­i­nal ac­tiv­i­ty but rather es­ca­late it.